From Sky to Ground
by Pegaz03
Summary: Miko Nakadai wasn't really a Japanese Exchange student. That was her cover story. She made sure that people knew she was from Japan. But, in reality, Miko wasn't human at all. For some reason her host parent knew that. Full summary inside. Female Skywarp.
1. Stranded Knee-deep in Autobots

**Summary:**

 _ **Miko Nakadai wasn't really a Japanese Exchange student. That was her cover story. She made sure that people knew she was from Japan. But, in reality, Miko wasn't human at all. So when she met the Autobots, her first thought was, "Perfect! I can get info on the Autobots!"... But, after awhile, she starts to see the Autobots as family, making her question if she truly was an Autobot. Miko hopes to prove that her true self is now good, even if her brother try's to throw a wrench in her plans.**_

Chapter 1: Stranded Knee-deep in Autobots

Why did life hate me? First, I lose the brother I actually like, then I'm left on a dead planet by my other brother who I don't like at all (at least not anymore, but don't tell him that). Now, I'm stuck on a backwater planet alone who knows how far away from anyone is like me. Guess it's a good thing I have Pretender in me, else I wouldn't have been able to blend in by disguising myself as an organic. Isn't life great? I do my best to blend in, I even go to school like a "normal" teen, everyone thinks I'm just an exchange student from Japan in a small school in Jasper, Nevada. I even have a host family, well one person in said family and a kid, but still.

I sat there sketching a blue motorcycle drawing stars and hearts. Maybe back on Cybertron I could have been an artist, maybe. Of course, I doubt that. But, things change, people change, lives are changed. There's nothing I can do about that, I never have been able to and I probably never will. How I hope that Lord Megatron destroys the Autobots, then maybe this war that cost me my brother will be over.

I looked up from my sketching to find the motorbike was driving away, following my classmate Jack. Could it be… another Cybertronian? If it were it would most likely be an Autobot, most Decepticons would never even dare to think about taking the form of a ground vehicle, other than Vehicons. I followed the motorcycle and found that it was in fact an Autobot, she was crouched down in the alley talking to Jack. She wanted him to come with her, he must have seen the Autobots out of there disquise, and Autobots would never dare leave a human to spill such a secret.

"Dude! You should totally go with her!" I exclaimed without thinking. As Miko I don't bother thinking all that much. Nothing like my true self. As my true self I seem more like my brothers than anyone else. But I guess since no one here knew me, it gave me a certain freedom I wasn't used to. Besides, revealing myself would give me an opening to find the Autobot base. And… I guess it would help to know where other Cybertronians were, just in case something happens. I hadn't even thought there were other Cybertronians on Earth, but I guess I was wrong.

"Great…" The Autobot muttered, while I just smiled. I will admit that from this much lower angle, there was something cool about big robots. Never mind that I was a big robot myself. Not big in comparison to other Cybertronians, but big for humans. Humans are the smaller than a minibot.

The Autobot drove the road out of Jasper, into the desert. Given she was driving there instead of taking a Groundbridge, which I'm certain they'd have, given how hard it was to travel on this Primus forsaken planet, their base must be close. Who'd have thought that I'd been spending the past few months this close to the Autobot base? We drove off the rode and towards a mesa, which from the rockface two doors opened up leading in. A clever place to hide your base. When we entered there were three other Autobots and a boy I recognized from school, who was just getting out of a yellow with black striped Autobot. I think the boy's name was Raf?

"I thought there were two?" The red and white Autobot asked looking at the three of us, irritation both on his face and in his voice.

"Haven't you heard?" The motorcycle asked, "Humans multiply."

I noticed a big green Autobot, I ran up to him and started to question him. Might as well get as much info as possible while I'm here. Not to mention he seemed like the kind of Bot who could cause some real damage.

"I'm Miko." I said, "Who're you?"

"Bulkhead." He said with a large amount of uncertainty in his voice. He must have been a bit afraid. I would be afraid of me too.

"Are you a car?" I asked, "I bet you're a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wreckin' ball for a punching bag?" I just bombarded poor Bulkhead with questions. Not that I felt too bad about that.

"So… If you guys are robots…" Raf started to ask, shyly, almost pausing to think a moment, probably wondering if he should really be asking his question.

"Then who made you?" He finished. The medic rolled his optics and snorted.

"Puh-lease." He grumbled. Wow he's rude.

We heard the sound of thundering footsteps. A large red and blue robot walked in. We all looked up to him wide eyed. I'm surprised I didn't faint, because the Bot who walked in was none other than Optimus Prime. Every Cybertronian, Autobot and Decepticon alike, even the Neutrals, they all knew who Optimus Prime was. How couldn't they?

"We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron." He said in what I think was his best attempt at not scaring us in any way, "Better known, as Autobots." Jack walked up to the large Autobot.

"Why are you here?" He asked. That… was a good question. Although, I think I already know. Where there's Autobots…

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons." The Prime answered.

"The jokers who tried to bump us off last night." Arcee stated, as if to clarify. So it sounds like Jack and Raf saw the Autobots because they got in some kind of scuffle with some Decepticons. Probably Vehicons, honestly. I didn't hear any planes yesterday.

"Okaaay," Jack said turning his gaze to the Prime, "why are _they_ here?" That was something I already knew.

Optimus knelt closer to Jack.

"A fair question, Jack" He told Jack. All three of our eyes widened. Jack never told him his name. Maybe he'd heard it from the motorcycle, she could have learned his name yesterday.

"In part," He continued, "Because _our_ planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war."

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked, with his usual innocence. I never knew someone could be so innocent. I didn't have an amazing knowledge of this planets history, but I'm certain there were only so many reasons a civil war could start. Then again, maybe before my brothers and I joined the Decepticons, I might have thought that same way too.

"Foremost," He began, "For our world's supply of energon. The life blood of Autobots, and Decepticons alike." And with that he began into the story of the war for Cybertron. I wasn't really interested, because I already knew it. Pretty much everyone knew why the war started on Cybertron, I didn't need to hear the Prime's perspective for this. He finished, and I yawned.

"Is there going to be a quiz?" I asked.

"So… What does this Megatron…? Or any of this - Have to do with us?" Jack asked ignoring me.

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in a sometime," Optimus began, "But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic." Megatron, even the name made me think of my brother, who was probably about to get thrashed around soon. But that was good, if Lord Megatron was returning, that was good. Right? Right.

"And since you know of our existence," The Prime said, "I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons know of yours." Great. It'll be easier to contact Lord Megatron that way. Not that I understand why the other Cons knowing about some humans could be a problem. I doubt Starscream wants anything to do with Humankind, other than to murder it if it so much as thinks about getting near him.

Jack nodded, "Got it. If we spot any strange vehicles, call 911. Can we go now?" Really Jack? 911? What would they do? Use their pathetic human made bullets on a Vehicon? Yeah, that _might_ scratch their paint.

"Are you _insane_?" I demanded, "I'm living a dream here in Botswana! And I won't allow you or _anyone else_ to shatter it!" I couldn't let this chance to gather intel on the Autobots go to waste, no matter how much Jack wanted to be responsible.

"It is best that you four remain under our watch," Optimus said, "At least until we can determine our enemy's intentions." Yeah right. Like you'll be able to do that. If anything, I'm going to take the first chance I get to find other Decepticons.

"Optimus," The red and white Bot began, "With all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere!"

Jack's eyebrow's shot up, "Children?" He asked annoyed. I mean, technically Jack and I were teens, but I'm pretty sure that still qualifies as children.

"They have no protective shell!" The Bot hissed, "If they get underfoot they will go… _squish_." He stopped his foot for emphasis, making Jack, Raf, and I jumped.

"Then for the time being, Ratchet," Optimus began, revealing this red and white Bot to be the Autobot medic. "We must watch where we step."

Suddenly, we all heard an alarm going off. It was blaringly loud, something I couldn't say I appreciated, not at this size.

"What's that?!" Jack asked. Well Jack probably not something good.

" **Proximity Sensor** " The yellow and black Autobot gave for an answer. "Proximity Sensor," Raf translated, "Someone's up top!"

How? How did this squishy, organic, child know how to translate Cybertronian Morse code? I made a mental note to look up Earth Morse code to compare it.

"It's Agent Fowler." Ratchet said with hardly a happy look on his face… Then again I doubt he ever really is happy. He seems like the grumpy type.

"I-I thought _we_ were the only humans who knew about you guys?" Jack asked. Well apparently not! Though I highly doubted that only three human _children_ were the ones to find out about the Autobots. They clearly weren't amazing at keeping their cover. The odds are there was at least one other person.

"Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world." Ratchet grumbled.

"As he tends to visit only when there are… issues," Optimus began to tell us, "It may be best if you do not meet him at this time." The three of us look at each other. We ran over to a wall hiding, just as the elevator came to the balcony floor. A man I assumed was Agent Fowler walked out. He looked really, really… Angry.

"Seven wrecks, thirty-four fender benders," Agent Fowler yelled, "A three-hour traffic jam, and a particular note, numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make and a black and yellow muscle car…" Yikes… Well, now I know what caused that traffic jam I heard about yesterday. I should have known when I heard these Autobots had a run in with some Decepticons.

The yellow and black Autobot and the motorcycle give Agent Fowler an innocent look. As if to say _"Who? Us?"_.

"So, anything you care to get off your tin chest, _Prime_?" Fowler demanded adding some extra annoyance to the Autobot leader's title.

Optimus looked at Agent Fowler, "We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler."

"They're back… Aren't they?" Agent Fowler asked a slight trepidation in his voice.

"If you are referring to the Decepticons," Optimus said, clearly knowing all too well who Agent Fowler was talking about. "I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable,"

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon," Agent Fowler decided, certainty in his voice.

I heard a sound that I think meant the Optimus was beginning to lose his patience. His patience was certainly far larger than Lord Megatron's.

"Here me, Agent Fowler," Prime began, "We are your best, possibly your only, chance against the Decepticon threat."

"Says you," Agent Fowler hissed.

"That does it," Bulkhead snarled, speaking up for the first time since I bombarded him with questions. "Now I'm mad. I don't care what anyone says about not hurting humans… The squishy's going down!" Okay, so Bulkhead's not super friendly when he's mad!

Thankfully, the yellow and black Autobot grabbed his arms before he could get too far forward.

 **"Bulk! You're only going to make it worse!"** He whined.

"Hey, fleshy!" Bulkhead yelled, still mad, "Did anyone get splattered on that freeway?" Fowler glared him as Bulkhead got away from the Autobot holding him back and picked up one Ratchet's tools.

"Team Prime knows when to use force," He growled as he started to crush the tool, "And how much to use."

"Bulkhead!" Ratchet yelled annoyed, "I needed that!"

"Enough," Optimus ordered then turned to Agent Fowler.

"Military involvement will end in catastrophe," He told him, "Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Fowler. I, however, _cannot_."

Agent Fowler looked at him, "Then do us both a favor and handle this Prime," he turned to the elevator, " _Under_ the radar." He must have gotten into the elevator and pressed the button, "Or _I_ will." We heard the elevator shut.

"Pretty big bearings…" Bulkhead said annoyed, "For a human,"

"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world, Bulkhead," Optimus said, "As he should be." We walked out from where we were hiding, only to hear a noise come from the computers.

"Blasted Earth tech!" Ratchet groaned annoyed, "Cliffjumper's signal popped back online."

"Who's Cliffjumper?" I asked the other Bots very hopefully. I wasn't very well versed in Autobots, there were a lot of them, like there were Decepticons.

"How's that possible?" Optimus asked. Okay so by the sounds of it, Cliffjumper should be dead. And that signal says he's not. That's strange. There is no way that's possible. Once something's dead, it stays dead, Organic or Cybertronian.

"It isn't." Ratchet said.

Ratchet gestured to the screen disgusted, " _Another_ bug," He spat, "The system's _chock_ full of them!"

"If there's any chance Cliff's alive…" Arcee started, showing signs of unrest.

"Ratchet, prepare sickbay," Optimus ordered them, as his battle mask shut, "We may need it." He walked over to what I recognized as a Groundbridge.

"Hey!" I yelled, "What can _we_ do?" I need an opening to find the other Decepticons. I'm not too excited to see Starscream, but I need to get word where the Autobot base is.

Optimus looked at me, "Remain with Ratchet,"

I gave a disappointed whine and pout. And so did Ratchet. Ha, I'm guessing Ratchet doesn't really like humans. The Groundbridge fired up in a swirl of green and yellow and everyone left.

"What just happened?" Jack asked, clearly confused and possibly amazed by the Ground bridge.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the Groundbridge." Ratchet explained.

"Wait, what's a Groundbridge?" Raf asked.

Ratchet sighed and turned back to the computer, probably deciding if he wanted to try to explain it or not. Then he grumbled, "Scaled down version of Spacebridge technology,"

Raf opened his mouth to ask a question.

"Don't worry about it." I said dismissively. He didn't really need to know what a Spacebridge was.

"Since we don't currently possess the means… or the energon… required for intergalactic travel…" Ratchet said, his point clear without him even needing to say it.

"You're stuck here." Jack began to finish. "On Earth."

"With the likes of you, yes," Ratchet growled, once again facing us, "But I constructed the Groundbridge to enable us to travel from here to _anywhere_ on this planet."

"Whoa!" Exclaimed Raf, "Does it work on humans?"

"Naturally." The medic sounded proud. I guess given the technology on this planet that he had to work with, creating a Groundbridge was pretty impressive.

"You mean I could just shoot on over and visit my folks in Tokyo?" I asked even though those _parents_ didn't exist.

"Within moments," Ratchet said, with what I swear is an evil grin on his face.

"In fact," Ratchet said his optics gleaming, "allow me to send you there immediately, all three of you!"

"Watch it, Ratchet." I warned teasingly. I didn't need to try and figure out a reason not to see said parents in front of others.

The three of us started to get used to our surroundings

"What _is_ this anyway?" I asked, poking a piece of machinery.

"Broken," Ratchet said, as he walked by, "Don't touch."

With his back to me I tried to touch something else…

"Don't touch that either,"

"Is there anything we _can_ touch?" Jack asked. Then a warning popped up on the old medic's computer.

"How come you guys are using human computers?" Raf asked innocently from the balcony.

"It certainly isn't by choice." Ratchet grumbled, "It was handed down by the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I've made modifications as I see fit,"

Ratchet then growled in frustration as he began to try to fix the problem… Only he seemed made it worse and more warnings came up.

"I think I can fix that…" Raf spoke up, though still quiet, pulling his laptop out of his backpack.

"Really?" Ratchet said with more sarcasm in his voice then he normally has. Raf plugged his laptop into the computer mainframe, "You know this is _complex_ technology don't you? I mean, it isn't a child's toy…"

Raf looked back to him, having been typing away as the medic spewed on. "Now try." He said. Suddenly all the error messages turned green. Raf fixed it.

I couldn't help but let out a little laugh at that. "Never underestimate the power of Raf's skills." Skills that I admittedly didn't even know he had, but that's okay.

We waited around for a while ultimately keeping to between the three of us, not really wanting to deal with Ratchet, until we heard Optimus yell over the Comn. link, "Ratchet! Bridge us back. Use the arrival coordinates! NOW!"

We saw part of a blast come through the Groundbridge.

"Whoa." All of us kids breathed, astonished.

"Cutting it a bit close," Ratchet pretty much complained, "How about Cliffjumper?"

They were silent…

"What was that explosion?" I broke the silence, "Was there a fight? Can I come with netx time?" With that said Arcee gave a growl and glared at her.

"Look…" She started sounding very annoyed. Maybe I should have not done that.

"Hey, Miko," Jack said, saving me from Arcee's anger, "Let's go see what the 'bots hide in their sock drawers…"

"Seriously?" I asked as Jack started to drag me away. He didn't drag me far, just off to the side. I could still hear the Autobots talking.

"Arcee," Optimus asked, "What did you see?"

"Not Cliff," She muttered, arms crossed, "At least, not anymore,"

"He was mutated, _butchered_ …" Her voice cracked, "Like something from those Con experiments during the war…" I had a brief flash to when I was stuck working in Shockwaves lab before Cybertron went dark. Those experiments from that horrible, twisted excuse of a scientist were… Horrifying.

Arcee's knees suddenly gave out beneath her, making the others catch her.

 **"Arcee… Are you okay?"** Bumblebee quickly asked.

"I'm fine," She said dismissing them, "Just… _dizzy_ ,"

"Robots who get dizzy?" I asked.

"Robots with emotion," Raf said.

"Robots… who can _die_." Jack said with eerie finality. It didn't have the same effect to me. I've seen what this war had done. I've seen people die. I've been why people die. I've killed Autobots before, I've killed Decepticons who tried to defect or otherwise turn against us. There were so few Cybertronians left _because_ we could die.

Ratchet ran his scanner over Arcee, it turned red when he went over her left servo. There was a dark purple liquid on it.

"What's this?" Ratchet asked, his voice barely a whispered.

"Don't know." Arcee said, holding her helm, "Cliff was covered in it, _leaking_ it."

Ratchet carefully scarped it off onto a slide.

"Go take a decontamination bath," he said, "Now."

 **"I got her."** Bumblebee whirred, beginning to help her off.

"Uh, Optimus," Jack said holding his phone, "I hate to bug, but, uh… no bars,"

"A security precaution," He answer, "The silo walls isolate all radio waves."

"Well, if I don't call my mom, like, _now_ I'm pretty sure the cops will be out looking for me," He said. Optimus seemed confused.

"Have you broken the law?" He asked. I about laughed out loud right then and there. Broken the law? Seriously?

"No." He said, "Just curfew, it's after 10 pm."

"I better get home too," Raf said, "Or I'll be grounded for a year!"

"Earth customs," Optimus said, "I hadn't considered," No kidding.

"But, the issue of your safety remains," he continued.

He turned to Bulkhead, who was just walking up. "Bulkhead, accompany Miko home," Optimus said.

"AWESOME!" I yelled, "My host parent will _freak_!"

"And maintain covert surveillance," he finished, "In vehicle form,"

"Curbside duty," Bulkhead nodded, "Got it."

"Aww," I whined. Of course, I can use this as an opportunity to learn more about the Autobots. They wouldn't think twice about telling a human about them. They'd never expect a human to really be a Decepticon!

Optimus looked at Bumblebee and said, "Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf," His optics lit up happily.

"Ratchet?" He asked.

"Busy!" He yelled, right as Arcee came in to the room.

"Arcee," Optimus said, keeping her from backing out, "You will accompany Jack."

She tensed, "Ooo, still _dizzy_." She said.

"You're fine, so says your physician," Ratchet said, waving his servo in dismissal.

Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead transformed into their vehicle modes.

We said goodbye and left. I found myself having a strange feeling. Like a feeling of belonging. It was something I hadn't felt in years. Primus, could I really be thinking that I belong with the Autobots? My place was with the Decepticons, through and through. Right? That's how it's always been. I felt a few fond memories from forever ago return, though vague and hazy. I used to be so happy, kind of like how I felt today.


	2. Why Agent Fowler

**A/N: Okay, time to stop procrastinating uploading this. I've had several chapters written out already, I just now only figured out how to use Fanfiction. I'll also probably upload this story to A03 when I get around to it.**

 **Thanks for everyone who's read this, reviewed, favorited, and what-not. It really means a lot that people actually want to read this. So here's what I have uploaded, I'll try to get more written. Eventually.**

"Ready… Set…" I counted sitting in Bulkhead's passenger seat.

"Miko, I'm supposed to be protecting you…" He interrupted.

"Bulkhead, I'm strapped tight in ten tons of metal muscle. I'm protected." I told him. Yeesh where's his sense of adventure?

Bulkhead started forward down the hill and through the sand dunes. I was yelling in excitement the whole way. It's like a roller-coaster, but in sand and not on a track. After a while we headed back to the Autobot base. So far I haven't been able to get much from Bulkhead about the other Autobots and what not, but it's only a matter of time, obviously.

"Sw-eet!" I exclaimed once we finally got back to base. Bulkhead transformed, then grunted and pulled a guitar case from his chest plating.

"Sorry!" I said innocently, "Musta left that in the back seat." Bulk gave me the guitar case.

"Autobots," Optimus said as he began to walk in the direction of the Groundbridge, "Prepare to…" he trailed off when he realized us three humans were there.

"Roll out?" Arcee asked.

"Remain here…" Optimus looked at Ratchet, "Ratchet will come with me."

"Arcee, we'll be outside communication range for some time. So I'm putting you in charge."

I looked at Bulk, "Dude, you're the biggest, you should be the boss." I'll sow some dispute hopefully. Or at the very least a little drama.

"Oh, Miko, he never picks me." Bulk replied, sounding a bit disappointed. I can't believe that he never gets picked, Arcee couldn't be any more responsible.

"Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing, babysitting's another. Besides, Ratchet hasn't been out in the field since the war." Arcee tried to argue, though I find it funny they keep acting like the war's over. There's less of us sure, but the Autobots won't stop until the Decepticons do. I don't even know when that will happen.

"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing's as sharp as ever." Ratchet grumbled in annoyance.

"For the moment it is only reconnaissance." Optimus stated.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee countered.

"Arcee, much has changed in the last twenty-four hours. And we all need to adapt."

"Ratchet, bridge us out." Optimus told Ratchet as the old medic activated the Groundbridge. Optimus and Ratchet walked through the 'Bridge with it closing after them.

"Okay chief, what's on the activities list?" Jack asked Arcee.

"I'm going on patrol." She started to walk away.

"But, Optimus told us to stay," Bulk said, clearly not liking the idea of Arcee leaving.

"When you're in charge, you can call the shots." Arcee shot back, "'Bee, with me"

 **"Okay…"** Bumblebee buzzed, clearly excited though a bit apprehensive about leaving us and Bulk.

"Bulkhead," Arcee said, "You're in charge." Her and Bumblebee drove off.

"So, uh," Bulk began, "What's on the activities list?"

I plugged in my guitar, causing a high-pitched whine to emit from the speaker. "How 'bout, Band practice!"

"But," Raf began, "We're not a band…"

"Why so antisocial? Come on Raf! You play anything?" I asked the pre-teen. Plenty of kids his age could play the flute or some kind of horn, right? That's like high school bad or something.

"Um… Keyboard?" he asked tentatively, holding up his laptop.

"Laptops and samples. Good. Jack?" I looked at the teen.

"I sometimes mess around on the harmonica…" He said, an earnest answer… But not a very good one. What the heck could you do with a harmonica?

"Do I look like I do country?" I asked him offended. "Just… Cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming." He seemed to not really like that idea, but too bad!

"Bulkhead," I said pointing to him, "Percussion."

"We'll go for big and industrial sound. DIY we're a band!" I announced, "We've just, gotta learn the songs… this one's a ballad. My Fist, Your Face." I started playing the song. I'm actually pretty good, if I do say so myself. In fact, my music was so good, that we had a hard time hearing the proximity sensor

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bulkhead stopped my music.

"Come on, you can't handle raw power?" I asked.

"Proximity sensor! Quick, hide!" We scrambled to find somewhere to hide, ultimately settling on behind his leg. As soon as we hid, Agent Fowler walked out of the elevator.

"Prime!" he yelled, he didn't seem happy.

"Agent Fowler," Bulk said, "He's not here. Nobody's here. Except me, of course." He was nervous, clearly.

"Well where is he? Oh wait, let me guess, he's out pancaking a mini mall. I don't know what language you bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons! And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska, is not what the word handle means in English! So you tell Prime…" His eyes trailed to Bulk's leg where the cable of my guitar was trialing out. Oh, that's not good.

"Since when were you bots electric?" He asked. Bulk looked down at his feet for a moment. We all decided just to walk out from out hiding place.

"Hey, how you doing?" Jack asked as we stood. This was not going to go well, was it?

"Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gone off book this time. Wait, don't tell me, you're running a daycare center!"

"O-kay." Bulk mumbled.

"We're… Interns!" Jack said.

"Student interns." Raf was going along.

"Earning extra credit in…" Jack said.

"Robotics!" I said at the same time as Jack said, "Autoshop"

"Okay," Agent Fowler said as he started down the stairs. "Let's move. I'm taking all three of you into federal custody. It's for your own protection."

Bulk put his foot in front of us, "We're protecting them."

"Is that so?" Fowler asked, "Well maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon." Fowler picked up the phone that was next to the stairs.

"Don't use that phone," Bulk said as he put his finger into it, "it's out of order."

"This isn't over bigfoot! Not by a long shot!" We watched as Fowler walked away and into the elevator, leaving. Bulkhead sighed. We waited for a while for something to happen.

Something began to beep at us, "My ears." Raf groaned.

"It's an SOS," said Bulk, "From Fowler!" Bulk looked at the computers, but didn't know what to do.

"Did you trace it?" Asked Raf, who seemed to have a better idea of what to do than Bulkhead.

"Location scan was incomplete." Bulk said, "Oh well…"

"Oh well?" Jack asked, "Seriously?"

"Fowler's a jerk!"

"Whoa! Whether you like the guy or not, the Decepticons may have him." Jack countered.

"And he knows your location." Raf agreed then gulped, "our location…"

"And did we not just witness how fast Fowler backs down from a Bot? The Cons will totally make him squeal." I said, not to mention I knew how bad it could be for Autobot prisoners, I don't have a clue what might happen to a organic.

"But, we lost the location, Fowler could be anywhere!" Bulk said.

"Maybe I can help." Raf said pulling out his computer, "About five years ago, the government started microchipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets." We looked at him as he started typing away at the keys of his computer. Why does he know these things?

"What?" Raf asked, "I saw it on TV! Anyway, if I can hack into the fed's mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowlers coordinates."

"You know how to hack?" I asked, I didn't even know that! Well I mean, I do know how to hack, a bit, Earth technology is way easier than Cybertronian, but a kid? He shouldn't know how to do that. "But, you're like, two years old!"

"Twelve… and a quarter." Raf replied, then got back to work clicking away on his computer.

"Latitude, thirty-nine point five," Raf read from his computer, "Longitude, one hundred and thirty nine."

Bulkhead activated the Groundbridge, "Wait here." He told us.

"Aww," I whined, "Don't break up the band!" Just let me come with you so I can report about what I've found out!

"Uh, Jack! You're in charge!" Bulk said before running through the bridge.

"Guess we three have the run of the place," Jack stated, "Miko?"

But I had ran through the Groundbridge after Bulk. No way he was going to leave me! Not when this could get me closer to other Cons!

"Fowler?" Bulkhead asked as he jumped out of the Groundbridge. There was no reply.

"Uh oh… The whole Decepticon ship…" He commented, seeing the Nemesis just parked there. So obviously, Bulk moved as stealthily as he could. Not that it was much, given his size.

"Alright," I said to him, "What's the plan?"

"Miko!" he hushed yelled. I looked and saw I caught the attention of a Vehicon.

"Oh…" I muttered, "noise…" That Vehicon doesn't know who I am. He doesn't know I'm a Con myself. The Vehicon's blaster started to fire up.

"Miko, get down!" Bulk yelled. I did as he said, running away.

Bulkhead tackled the Vehicon then started punching it. I watched the fight as the Vehicon fought back.

"Hold 'em still!" I yelled when Bulk had the Vehicon pinned. I tried to smash a rock into the 'cons head. Didn't really work. Bulk picked me up and tossed me to safety.

"Miko, look away!" Bulk yelled.

"But-"

"Turn your head away!"

I didn't look away. Bulk pulled a lot of wiring from the Vehicon's chest.

"Wow…" I muttered. I'd seen things like this before, but it looked way cooler from this angle!

"Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read?" Bulkhead asked into his comn. "I have a situation…"

We were still sitting there. Waiting.

"What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee?" Bulk asked.

"Dude, the cons could be putting the clamps on Fowler right now. Let's just storm the joint." I said. We heard a Groundbridge fire up.

"Ugh, they're here." Bulk said relieved. Then we saw Jack and Raf walk out.

"Why don't those guys hang with their own bots? This is _our_ one on one time!" I grumbled annoyed. This is making it harder for me to report! The more people there are, the harder time I'll have shaking them so I can change back to my original form and report.

"Whoa, are your bones vibrating?" Raf asked Jack. They clearly were getting used to Groundbridges.

"You there!" The two were spotted by some Vehicons.

"Scrap." Bulk and I said at the same time.

 ** _To Be Continued_**


	3. A Familiar Place

The Vehicons started shooting at Raf and Jack. The two were startled. They jumped out of the way of the attacks. Raf got sent back a bit by a blast that barely missed, so Bulk came driving to get them.

"Get in, now!" He yelled to them. They jumped into Bulk's interior, the latter then drove away, dodging the blasts.

"Thank, Bulkhead." Jack said.

"Yeah, thanks." Raf said as well.

"What- What are you doing here?!" Bulk asked.

"We were worried about Miko." Jack replied, "Have you seen her?"

"What's she look like?" I asked with a grin, making my presence in Bulk's back seat known. We drove behind the big rock that Bulk and I had been hiding behind.

"Everyone out." Bulk told us. Why Bulk? I need to get on the Nemesis! "And this time, please stay here." We hopped out of Bulk. Well Raf and Jack did. I stayed inside, secretly. Somehow he hadn't noticed.

Bulk drove towards the Vehicons. He climbed up on to the Nemesis and threw a Vehicon off. He ran towards another and punched it with his weapon. He proceeded to use that one as a shield against the others blast taking the last two out. He noticed that I wasn't with Jack and Raf. Turns out my human body did not like that, as I found myself throwing up. Gross.

"Where's Miko?!" He yelled. I knocked on him. He opened up his chest to let me out.

"Ugh… whoo…"

"Miko?" he asked.

"I heaved on your floor mats. Sorry." I raised my hand to keep myself from doing it again. I climbed on to Bulk's hand and he lowered me down.

"Remind me to _never_ do that again." I told him. A Vehicons then rushed at Bulk, knocking him down. He then threw it off and started bashing it. We both looked as we saw more Vehicons rising up behind me. I ran away while Bulk came to the rescue. After Bulk took out the Vehicons, he picked me up, only for more Vehicons to come. He ran and dropped into the Nemesis. He kept running until we came across some Vehicons, so he slid me under them, then took them out.

"I'm gonna heave again." I muttered after rubbing my butt. This body was not liking what I was putting it through. We began moving again, turning a corner to see Arcee and Bumblebee, along with Jack and Raf.

"Friendly." Arcee said while Bulk said, "Hello."

"Brought the humans, huh?" Arcee asked.

"You try getting them to stay behind." Bulk protested.

"We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here." She said, serious.

"Uh…" Jack started.

"He's in the brig." Both him and Raf said and the same time. I mean, I feel that such a thing was pretty obvious, but I'm still curious how they figured that out.

On our way to the brig, which I could have found a lot faster since I know where it is, some Vehicons started to shoot at us. The Bots started to take them out while Jack kept us from getting squashed.

The Autobots took out the Vehicons in one of the rooms.

"Clear." Arcee said, "Wait in here."

 **"Why 'Cee?"** Bumblebee asked, concerned.

"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets. They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put." It was a pointed comment, clearly meaning that we weren't supposed to leave. That wouldn't do. The Bots then left.

"That, was intense." I whispered.

"It was?" Raf asked.

"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity. What were you thinking Miko?" Jack growled.

"Did I ask you to follow me?" I growled back. Stupid human. Why'd you have to throw a wrench in my plans?

"You wanted us to be a band. Doesn't that usually mean playing together?"

"Well, maybe I decided to go solo."

"Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is your name Optimus? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much." Not that I need pathetic help.

"Both of you! Stop! Stop it! Both of you!" Raf yelled. He ran and hugged his knees. Jack and I came up to him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Raf… It's okay…" Jack said.

"Yeah, we're gonna be fine." I soothed. I may be a Decepticon, but I'm not heartless, seeing a child distressed makes me want to make them feel better.

"Our Bots will come back for us." Jack reassured.

"Yeah." I said, "They're gonna take us home." Even if my home is gone. Even if I'd rather stay here so I could tell others where the Autobot base is. Even if where I live isn't home. Even if I have no home now.

"How do you know?" Raf whispered.

"Hey… Hey Raf, what do you make of that." Jack asked. He was referring to something on a screen. Raf looked, then got up to get a better look at it.

"It's important. Real important."

"We've got to get this to Optimus." Jack decided.

That can't happen. "How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?" I asked. Please, this is a schematic for a spacebridge. If the Autobots get ahold of this… Actually, why do the Decepticons need it either?

"I know math when I see it, and that is one serious equation."

"Can you, download it?" Jack asked.

"I've got a flash drive." Raf said as he unzipped his backpack and pulled out said drive.

"But, I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is way alien."

Unfortunately for us, a Vehicon walked up and noticed the dead body. We ran so we wouldn't be seen, but we left Raf's bag. He ran back to get it, but was noticed by the con. Raf froze as the Vehicon powered his weapon.

The Vehicon stalked forward. But, Jack ran and knocked Raf away.

"Miko! Take a picture!" Jack yelled at me.

"Great idea." So naturally, I took a pic of the Vehicon.

"Hey you!" I yelled to get the Vehicon's attention.

"Not of that," Jack yelled pointing to the Vehicon, "Of that." He pointed to the schematics.

"Oh…" I muttered. I then took a pic of the spacebridge schematics. As much as it pained me, I had to keep up this charade. I'd have other chances if I stayed around the Bots. Maybe I could even get more information. We started running away from the Vehicon. We ran out of the room and into one of the many hallways of the Nemesis.

"Go, go, go!" Jack yelled.

The Vehicon followed us and took aim.

 _Honk honk honk!_

Bulk came driving, and jumped over us to attack the Vehicon. Arcee and Bumblebee drove up. Jack got on Arcee while Raf and I got in 'Bee.

"I told you to stay put!" Arcee said, as we drove away.

"I like pie." Agent Fowler said, "Can we stop for pie?"

"You found Fowler," I cheered, "Rock on!"

We drove away from the Nemesis. Away from the Decepticons. Away from what I've been for years. Away from my brother. Why didn't I just run off and find him? Or Soundwave. I could tell them where the Autobot base is. _But then, you'd be endangering your friends,_ A little voice told me. Who? Jack and Raf? There just pathetic humans, organics. It couldn't mean the Autobots. They're not my friends! Though, Bulkhead is pretty cool. What am I saying? All Autobots are bad! All of them!

Back at base, Optimus and Ratchet had returned just a little after us and Optimus was now putting the finishing welds on a brace for the old medic's right arm. We humans were standing by the now knocked out Agent Fowler.

"What happened to you guys anyway?" I asked the two. This was Optimus Prime and his medic. They don't just get all banged up from falling.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors." Ratchet replied.

"Zombies?" I asked, "You fought zombies and I missed it!" This was a cover for how I truly felt. Someone somehow brought back the dead. How… How could they! Did they have any respect for those who died?! Vehicons were one thing… But this!

"Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you." Optimus said, now focusing on Bulk.

Bulk got up and looked at us. "It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise."

"But, it wasn't Bulkhead's fault." I said walking over to him.

"Miko please." Bulkhead whispered.

"And… check it out," I said pulling my phone to show Optimus the schematics, "Recon!"

"Hmm… Ratchet have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron." Wait, Lord Megatron is back? Was he the one he made those zombies somehow?

"Whoa, Megatron is back? That's bad news, right?" Jack asked.

"I… Don't understand." Ratchet said, looking at the pic on my phone. I looked at it.

"Oops. That's the con that tried to blow Raf away." I said, "At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!"

"Miko, Raf was almost killed. This isn't a game! When are you going to get that through your thick skull!?" Jack exclaimed.

"Uh, we were _all_ almost killed, Jack." I countered, "You, me, Raf, even them!"

"Well if this is just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore."

"Jack," Optimus began, "Putting any of you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is no longer just your safety at risk, but the safety of all of humankind. We will respect your decision if you decide to leave." We heard the Groundbridge fire up.

"No point in long goodbyes." Ratchet said when we looked to him.

"Come on, Raf." Jack said to the twelve-year old. Raf looked at 'Bee.

"I'll be okay, Jack." He said, "See you at school."

"Sure thing." He walked down the stairs and looked at Arcee, "I know, you don't exist."

"Don't make me hunt you down." With that, Jack walked through the Groundbridge. One less human in the way, I guess. But, why did I stand up for Bulkhead? Why? It doesn't matter. It shouldn't.

Bulkhead and I pulled up to Jacks house, finding him in the garage. He was working on the wheel of his ten-speed. I got out of Bulk.

"Now I understand why you had to rush home." I said with a joking tone.

"Don't you have something more exciting to do, Miko?"

"So, this is where you hang." I said ignoring him. Time to make up a story, "Back home in Tokyo, I have two loving parents, two cats, Chichi and Dingdong, I went to the best school, took piano lessons since I was three." Let's hope no one asks me how to play piano.

"How nice for you." Jack said tiredly.

"No. How boring." I told him. He looked at me, "It wasn't me. Why do you think I jumped at the chance at transferring here?" Jack scoffed.

"To Jasper, Nevada?" He asked, "The entertainment capital of the world?"

"Yeah, well, the brochure lied."

"Piano lessons were starting to look pretty good, in fact." I told him, "But then, the last couple of days happened."

"Do you have a point?" Jack asked. Of course I do!

"You bet," I told him, "I saw what you did today, when you saved Raf. When you came to save me."

"I've been raised to be responsible." Jack said, going back to his work, "to my school work, to my mom, to my job."

"Dude, here me out." I said, "You're no fry cook, you're a rock star!"

"Stop trying to pretend you're normal Jack. You'll never fit in. You were born to do so much more." A part of me wanted that to be a lie, but another part knew that it wasn't. There was something about Jack that was just different from all the other organics I'd met on Earth.

"Thanks, Miko, but I think normal suits me just fine."

"Oh." I groaned. Fine let him be stubborn. I was just trying to help. After all, I'm positive that he's something special! He's just not confident enough to embrace all of this. I got in Bulk and we drove away.


	4. Human Power

"We cannot allow Megatron to send Dark Energon through his Spacebridge," Optimus began, "If we fail the dead of Cybertron will arise."

"They will swarm through the vortex, and invade Earth. Bending Human kind to Megatron's twisted rule." Lord Megatron isn't twisted. Is he? Maybe he is… NO! He isn't. Come on Skywarp, think straight!

"Optimus, I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's Spacebridge," Ratchet began, "High in Earth's orbit." It made sense. The Nemesis could go up there, but Autobots couldn't.

"And out of our reach." Optimus said. Oh, well. Too bad, so sad.

"Okay," I said, "So you guys don't fly, but can't you just Groundbridge there?" I knew they couldn't, but Miko must ask.

"The Groundbridge has limited range," Ratchet explained making a gesture with his hands, "Stretched all the way into orbit it's vortex could snap, and scatter us to the stars." That wouldn't be so bad…

"Since Megatron is likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk." What… No… If… but… _Why do I care?_

"Reaching the Spacebridge first is our only means of stopping him." Optimus told everyone sans Arcee who isn't even there.

 _Beep beep_

Oh, there she is. With Jack. How did she convince him?

"Hey," Jack said when he took his helmet off, "Guess who's back."

"Autobots," Optimus declared, "prepare for departure."

Jack looked at Arcee, "Where to?" She asked.

"The finale frontier." I said in my most dramatic voice.

"Space?" Jack asked looking surprised, "I… I thought they didn't have any way to get there?"

"They don't," Raf said, "Really."

"Be seeing you?" Jack asked Arcee. Arcee smiled… She smiled. I think I know how she convinced Jack. Ratchet walked over to the Groundbridge and fired it up.

"Be careful 'Bee?" Raf asked his friend.

" **Of course.** "

"I'm so jealous." I told Bulk.

"Don't even think about following me." He told me. Why because it's dangerous? Because I wouldn't be able to breath? Oh, who cares? I'll stick back here. I'll be good for once, mostly because it's blow my cover otherwise.

"Optimus," Ratchet called to the Bot, "If you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you."

"Until we meet again old friend." He said, "Autobots, roll out!"

They transformed and went through the bridge.

 _"Well, what are they waiting for?"_ We heard Arcee ask over the comn.

 _"It appears the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their Interstellar Navigation System."_ Optimus said.

 _"Huh,"_ Bulkhead said, _"That's my handiwork…"_

 _"Great job, Bulkhead. Without the dish, Megatron will be unable to aim the Spacebridge at Cybertron."_

"Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?" Raf asked. Of course we know where our own planet is! Do you think we're stupid?

"Naturally," Ratchet replied, "But, Cybertron is many lightyears away. To hit their target their aim must be astronomically precise."

 _"If Megatron went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system."_ Optimus said, _"A remote one."_

"Hmph," Ratchet grunted in thought, "From what I know about Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescopes dishes?" Raf asked, "Like the giant Sisor array in Texas?" Raf had brought up pictures on the human sized computers.

"Zp ep ep ep!" Ratchet said(?) leaning down a bit to look at us, "This is not child's play."

 _"Good thinking, Raf."_ Optimus said through the comn. Ha! Take that Ratchet.

 _"Ratchet have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard."_

We look over at Agent Fowler, "You!" He yelled, "Solider, you're out of uniform! Put on some pants!" He then passed out again.

"That may be a challenge." Ratchet said.

Raf started typing at the computer, "I can't get past the array's firewalls. They're too thick."

"You," Ratchet began incrediously, "Actually think _you_ could keep the Decpticons out?"

"Maybe," Raf said, "If I could get in." Which he can't. Great.

"Eh, wa…wait…wait. Raf." Jack said, "What if we could get you all the way in? Like inside the building in?"

"I could log into their internal network outside of the fire wall." Raf told him.

 _"The risk is too great."_ Optimus shut down the idea quickly, _"The Decepticons will be there. Perhaps even on site."_

"Optimus," Jack began, a resolution in his voice, "With all due respect, you said it yourself, this is bigger than the safety of three humans." Raf and I nod.

"Yeah, if we let the Cons win we're fragged along with everyone else on this planet." I agreed. What am I doing?

Optimus paused, _"Raf,"_

"I want to give it a shot." He said.

We bridged just over the fence around the array. We were all still a bit woozy.

"That'll take some getting used to." Jack groaned.

"Woah…" I muttered the dishes were huge! We went in. "Security sure is lax in this place." We found a room with a computer, so Raf sat down and began typing away.

"I'm in." Raf told us quietly, "and so are the Decepticons."

"What?" Jack asked

"How can you tell?" From me.

"Schematics," Raf explained, "With the same alien math we saw on their ship."

"But this time I can download it." He plugged a memory stick into the computers um, terminal thing. I'm not good with technical terms, okay? I looked closer at the screen.

"It's gotta be the Spacebridge." I said. I could tell it was.

"And the Decepticons are syncing it to the dishes." Raf told us, "but I can sync to them."

"Will the Decepticons know?" Jack asked.

"Even if they see I'm in the system, they'll have no idea I'm in the house." And so Raf typed away doing his thing.

"They're locked on to Cybertron," Raf told us, "But not for long." Jack and I looked at each other. Raf is good at this.

"The dishes are heading back towards Cybertron. I'll just undo that again." Raf sighed.

"What happens when the Cons realize they're being punked?" Jack asked.

"It's only virtual combat. You know, like online gaming." Raf explained.

"Yeah Jack," I said almost mockingly, "What're the Cons gonna do? They're probably, like, a thousand miles away."

Jack looked behind us, "Ah!" One of Soundwave's tentacles was behind us. It grabbed Jack and I, causing us the scream.

"I won't let him win." Raf muttered while Jack and I were dealing with Soundwave. It snuck up behind Raf causing him to jump on the table. Raf grabbed the memory stick and ran.

I grabbed a fire axe to use against Soundwave. I wasn't sure it would work, but hey, you never know. I swung at the tentacle only for it to swat me away and take the axe. Scrap.

"You handed it an axe?!" Jack asked.

"Not good." Raf muttered.

It looked like it was about to swing at us when it retracted back. We followed it and ran into the room was Soundwave was, only to see him just leaving. I pull my phone out and take a picture.

"Why is he leaving?" I asked. He just up and left? My brother, maybe. Soundwave, no way.

Raf walked over to some severed wires, "He cut the hard line." He said, "The dishes are locked on to Cybertron, for good." Well scrap.

We were back at base. Thing's weren't looking too good.

"Optimus," Ratchet called, "I'm detecting a rapidly expanding mass in their Spacebridge vortex. One with a peculiar energy signature." Agent Fowler walked up behind us finally recovered.

 _"Dark Energon."_ Optimus replied, _"Ratchet, we must destroy the Spacebridge."_

 _"There's enough live Energon coursing through it to achieve detonation. But we lack the firepower to ignite it."_

"If I knew how the Spacebridge was engineered I might be able to find a technical way to accomplish that." Ratchet replied.

"Um," Raf spoke up, "Would schematics help?"

"Optimus, I must say," Ratchet started, "The Spacebridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain it's destruction is the only option?"

 _"I am afraid so."_

"Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour." Ratchet said.

 _"Autobots, take your positions and follow Ratchet lead."_ Optimus commanded, _"While I make my stand."_

"These things are getting closer," Agent Fowler stated, "That's bad, right?"

 _"Ratchet, we're in position."_ Arcee told him over the comn.

"Arcee," he said, "Pay close attention."

Ratchet began to explain what to do. "Now follow the line from the flow generator to the Energon hub. There should be a valve."

 _"I see it."_ Came Arcee.

"Good. To turn all that power against itself all you need do is reverse the current."

 _"Current reversed."_

"Yes!" Agent Fowler exclaimed. Getting a little excited there huh.

"Right?" He then backpedaled and asked.

"I'll ready the Groundbridge." Ratchet said.

Once Ratchet readied the Groundbridge he said, "Optimus, the Groundbridge is ready and waiting."

 _"Autobots,"_ Optimus yelled, _"Jump."_

We waited in front of the Groundbridge.

"Do you think they…" Raf trailed off.

"Four life signals," Ratchet answered, "One very faint."

The Bots came through the Bridge thankfully in one piece. But it seems Arcee is hurt. _Why do you care. One less Autobot._ I thought to myself. But I _do_ care that's the scary part. Why do I care. I'm a Decepticon. Right? Ugh. Ever since I met the Autobots I've been questioning that. I mean Megatron did try to bring back the dead. And my brother is a pain. I'd love to give him a piece of my mind.

I put on a smile when Bulk came through and ran up to him yelling, "Bulkhead!"

Raf and Jack came down. Bumblebee walked through holding Arcee in his arms. Jack looked worried. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"We lost one this week," Ratchet began, "By the Allspark Don't let it be two."

Jack went over to Arcee and put his hand on hers. She opened her eyes.

"Arcee." He muttered.

"Jack, really?" She asked, "There are other motorcycles in in the world."

"But you're my first." He replied.

"And Megatron?" Ratchet asked Optimus.

"Not even he could have survived Ground Zero."

"Prime!" Fowler got his attention, "I didn't get to thank you bots for the save. I owe you one. We all do."

Bumblebee help Arcee up. I walked over towards Optimus.

"So," I began, ready to voice the question that all three of us humans wanted to ask. "Is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?"

"Without a means of leaving this world we Autobots takes strength in the bond we forge with our young friends true warriors. If not in body then in spirit. My name is Optimus Prime and I send this message though we did not choose to be of Earth, it would seem we are here to stay. If you approach this planet with hostile intent, know this, we will defend ourselves, we will defend humanity, we will defend our home."

If only I knew what I considered this place.


	5. You're Not Metal, Miko

**A/N: Okay, so here we go. This is Scrapheap, this one I tried to convey Miko being afraid of Scraplets, but not outwardly, since people would question that, and it's not time for anyone to find out about Miko. And to TransformersMangaFangirl, don't worry, you're not offending me. I understand that the chapters are more or less the same as what happens in the show. I want to change that, but a lot of what I have planned to be different doesn't happen until later. I do plan for something two chapters from this to be different, at least at the end. And I like the idea of Miko having flashbacks of sorts to her past, I just need to figure out how. So hang in there, I suppose, because I will make this different from the show, it's just going to take some time.**

 **On another note, I won't do every episode. For example, after Conjob, I intend to skip Convoy and go straight into Deus Ex Machina. This is because some episodes don't really show the humans, or at the very least Miko. I did Masters and Students because I thought it would be a nice, fun chapter.**

 **Thank you everyone who reviewed, I really enjoyed seeing what you had to say, even if it was just that you liked the story. Please, leave you comments and any suggestions. I'd also like to thank Madness Jones for pointing out that I misspelled "Brochure" In a previous chapter. That has been fixed.**

As we drove into the base on the first Saturday since meeting the Bots, Optimus and Arcee were standing in front of the open Groundbridge as the Hatchet seemed to be finished telling them something. I got out of Bulkhead giving him a cheeky smile.

"Miss us, Doc Bot?" I called to him.

"Ugh, shouldn't they be in school?" The Hatchet sighed.

"On Saturday?" I asked flabbergasted, "We have the whole weekend off," I told him, barely containing my smirk, "to spend with you." There was a smugness in my voice.

Jack waved slightly at Ratchet then walked to Arcee, "I wasn't expecting to car pool, what gives, Arcee?"

"Tag team, Jack" Arcee explained to the teen, "It's my turn for exploration duty."

Jack let out an exaggerated sigh, "Too bad, it's a beautiful day for a ride. Would hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors…" Wow nice one Jack.

"Artic exploration duty." Arcee clarified.

"Indoors where it's warm." Jack stated walking away and that was something we could agree on.

Raf walked up to the two Autobots, "The Artic?" He asked, "I've always wanted to see snow!"

"I would invite you to join, Rafael," Optimus began, "but, the conditions are much to extreme, even for we Autobots." And Decepticons, not that _that_ mattered.

"I… understand…" Raf flashed a small smile. Arcee and Optimus started towards the Bridge when Optimus looked at Raf.

"But, I will bring you back a snowball."

"That would be awesome," Raf said. The two Autobots walked through the bridge. I would normally say that I hope they'd get stuck, but death because of the cold is no way for _anyone_ to go.

"Transport Complete." The Hatchet stated, though I doubt that anyone cared. He went to look over to the console when said objected sparked. Ratchet flinched.

"By the Allspark…" he muttered. I wonder what's the matter? Eh, I'm sure it's fine, that Bridge was working fine before. Shouldn't stop now. The three of us humans (I will count myself as a human when I am disguised as one) walked up the stairs to talk to Bee and Bulk.

"So, what do you guys think we should do today?" I asked them.

 **"How about we play some video games?"** Bumblebee asked, making gestures for the people who couldn't understand him.

"Video game tournament. Last one standing wins!" Raf exclaimed, sitting on the couch in front of the tv.

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee!" Ratchet called, sounding irritated, "Here. Now!" What's up with him? Is something actually wrong? Bumblebee and Bulkhead look each other for a moment before walking off.

 **"Sorry Raf, Ratchet calls…"** Bumblebee beeps sadly, clearly wishing he could play with Raf. The youngest boy waves slightly before reaching to grab the other controller. I grabbed the controller and handed the one in my left hand to Jack.

"Prepare to be destroyed." I smirked, waving the controller in his face. Jack seemed to sigh a bit.

"Yeah, uh, not really my thing, Miko," He told me, arms still resting on the back of the couch. Oh, come on.

"Oh?" I smirked, "Scared of losing? To a girl?" My goading seemed to have worked.

With a sigh, Jack swipes the controller out of my hand and says, "Bring it."

"No mercy…" I say as we start up the game. There was no way I would lose to Jack in a racing game. Even if it's a ground racing game, far inferior to flying games. We start playing for a bit, and I vaguely notice Jack look over to Raf.

"Hey Raf, you wanna take on Miko for me?" The oldest boy asked, holding the controller out for Raf to take. Raf looked at the controller for a moment.

"Nah," Raf sighed, "I have stuff to do." Then the boy slid off the couch and walked off. Jack and I looked at each other for a moment before continuing our game.

"Whoo, yeah!" I smile as my virtual car passes by Jack's. Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were talking about something while this was going on, but I wasn't paying attention. Why should I care? They're Autobots, if something happens to them then that's good. Right?

Speaking of which, I had been thinking about how to get message of the location of the Autobot base to the Decepticons. In my Cybertronian form, I don't have enough energy to waste to do much, so unless I can swipe some Energon from the Autobots without getting noticed, contacting the Decepticons that way won't work. I'll have to get on the Nemesis or something as Miko, then transform and tell someone reliable. Like Soundwave. But, definitely not my brother. I can't trust Starscream not to just take all the glory for himself.

"Come on, come on…" Jack muttered as we raced, "You want some…" His car passed mine right before the finish line.

Jack jumped up from the couch as a winning jingle played, "In you face!" He cheered. The lights suddenly flickered and went down for a moment.

"Great," Jack sighed, "The powers failing." That was weird, why was the power failing? I looked at the tv screen and saw only static.

"Aww…" I sighed in mock sadness, "It wiped out our game." I got up with a satisfied smirk as Jack looked at the tv annoyed.

"Ya-but!" Jack stuttered, "I was winning!"

"Bummer," I mocked, not caring. He didn't beat me if unless the game said such. Jack and I walk over to where the three Bots are. The Hatchet pulled a circuit board out of the hole in the floor.

"We definitely have a problem," The Doc stated, examining the board. It was chewed up. "But what could have caused this?"

The lights flickered again, "Or that?" Bulkhead commented, and really, just what was going on?

"It might be the main grid," Rachet guessed, "Hopefully not a substation malfunction." The Hatchet looks at the circuit board he was holding once more.

"Hey guys!" Raf called from behind us humans, "Look what I found."

The Hatchet seemed annoyed by Raf's interference, "We're busy!" He growled angrily.

Then Ratchet saw what Raf was holding and screamed. Jack and I turned around to look at it and I froze, nearly screaming myself. Raf was holding a Scraplet. Oh, Primus, no… Not a Scraplet…

Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee scrambled up, stumbling backwards, Bee and Bulk readying their weapons to the best of their ability.

Jack and I went in front of Raf, though I chose to stay farther away from that… thing, "Hey," I called, trying to keep the fear out of my voice, "What's with you guys?"

"Scraplet!" Bulkhead yelled, "Scraplet!" Yeah, I know. Just remember Sky, they don't know your metal. The Scraplets have no reason to think you are metal.

"What's a Scraplet?" Raf asked, still holding that Primus forsaken Unicron spawn.

Ratchet steadied himself before explaining, "The most dangerous vermin to ever walked the face of Cybertron."

Jack, Raf, and I looked at the little thing. Yep, definitely a Scraplet. "This?" Jack asked, "This little thing?"

I steady my voice once more, because Miko has no reason to be afraid of Scraplets, "You guys are giant robots. Scrappy here," I gesture to the Scraplet, "is tiny."

"You have no idea the damage that tiny thing can do!" Bulkhead took a few steps back. Believe me Bulkhead, I know, and it's taking all my willpower not to cower in fear.

"Awe," Raf began, petting the Scraplet's head, I realized that the Pit spawn had been asleep, "He wouldn't hurt anything." The Scraplet was waking up. It looked around, and undoubtedly saw three large pieces of food.

It opened it's mouth, revealing teeth like a metal grinder, making the same sound. The Scraplet jumped forward, out of Raf's arms and onto the ground, running towards the Autobots. Oh, Primus, oh, Primus.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee shot at the thing, missing as it weaved around the blasts. It made it's way toward Bumblebee, jumping up onto his leg and eating away a stip. Bee panicked and stumbled back, falling on his butt.

The Scraplet reached Bee's knee where he tried to grab it, only for it to jump out of his hands and start eating on his arm. Bumblebee reached again, this time with his other arm and successfully grabbed the Scraplet, throwing it off of him. It skidded across the ground, before getting back up and trying to make it's way back over to the Bots. Raf ran up and started beating it with a crowbar. Where did he even find that crowbar?

Raf continued to beat it, even though I'm pretty sure it was already dead, before Jack grabbed the crowbar from his hands, "Easy there, killer." Raf panted before running over to Bee.

"Woah," I commented, "I did not see that coming." I was referring to Raf beating up the Scraplet, not the Scraplet trying to eat anyone. Because I saw the Scraplet trying to eat Bots coming. Just not sweet little Raf beating up said Scraplet.

"I'm sorry Bumblebee!" Raf was standing by Bumblebee and the Hatchet.

 **"It's okay Raf, you didn't know."** Bumblebee assured the boy, while Raf looked to the Hatchet.

"Is he going to be okay?" Raf asked the medic. Ratchet examined the spots where the Scraplet had chewed.

"Only a mesh wound," Ratchet replied, I think he was relived, "He'll live."

"Now do you believe me?" Bulkhead asked, and I was sure the other humans did, "All Scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat metal. Especially living metal!"

"Well," Jack said as he and I jogged over to the Bots, "Bug squashed; game over, right?"

"No," The Hatchet said, "When it comes to Scraplets, it's never just one." The doc looks over towards the hallways that led further into the base, "And I fear I now how they got in here." He knows how the Scraplets got here? Now this I have to hear. We all made our way to a room where some sort of pod was resting, unthawing from ice.

"It's a trap," Ratchet stated, using a light to examine the pod, "A Scraplet trap."

"An empty, Scraplet trap." Bulkhead added, fear creeping into his voice. Oh, no… More Scraplets. I mean of course, like the Hatchet said, there's never just one, but I was kind of hoping. The Scraplets may not recognize me as metal, but I'm not taking any chances.

"Most likely ejected into space eons ago, only to wind up in the Artic where the temperature kept them in stasis." The Hatchet theorized.

"Until we brought the thaw." Jack stated, holding his pipe in hand. Raf had the crowbar and I had a monkey wrench. We were ready to bash any and all Scraplets we saw. It's kind of empowering knowing that like this, I'm a bigger danger to the Scraplets then they are to me.

"Now they're wide awake and ready for breakfast," I commented, smirking, if only to hide my uneasiness.

"So," Raf began, "How many are we talking about?"

"Thousands," Ratchet said solemnly, "With power malfunctions and the Groundbridge damaged, are sure signs that their infestation is well under way." Well Scrap, this can't end well. Maybe I won't have to tell anyone where the Autobot base is, there might not be any Autobots left, especially with Optimus and Arcee in the Artic. We made our way back to the main hangar, where Optimus and Arcee were trying to communicate over the Comn link.

"Ratchet to Optimus and Arcee, do you read me?" The medic began, hoping that the communications still worked, "We have a situation."

The screen went static and Ratchet hit the desk, "The Scraplets have gotten into the Comn link system," That's not good, "If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire base to a scrapheap."

"I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead declared, while Bumblebee buzzed in agreement.

"Evacuation is not an option," The Hatchet stated, I wonder why not, "If we don't get the Groundbridge back online stat, Optimus and Arcee will perish." I suppose that would be bad, and I can't say freezing to death is a way _I'd_ want to go.

"They will?" Jack asked, concerned for his partner, no doubt. I walk over to Bulk.

"Bulkhead, you never run!" And if some Bots get eaten by Scraplets, well… no, that's no way to go. I won't let that happen, though it was too late to take my words back.

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a Bot," Bulkhead argued, though he was wrong, I had. It was terrifying, not something I'd wish on anyone.

"I have," Bulk continued, "They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small juicy bit s first. Fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit… Till there's nothing left! And I mean nothing!"

He looked away a bit, "Not even your optics…" he muttered.

We humans look at each other, "You have to let us help." Jack says.

"We're not made of metal," Raf adds.

"Yeah," I agreed, "The Scraplets can't hurt us," At least I hope they can't hurt me.

"Typically," Ratchet began, "I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality," How rude. Ratchet thought for a moment, "But it would appear to provide an advantage, under these extremes."

"Okay, good," Jack began, taking the lead, "So we pair off, one bot, one human. I'll watch your back while you're repairing the Groundbridge.

I smile, "And we go on a bug hunt," I point towards Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Boy was this going to be fun. The two afore mentioned Bots looked at each other and shuddered. Raf and I, with our respective Bots, took off to venture into the base. We're going on a Scraplet hunt.

"I get to be your body guard for once, how cool is that?" I ask Bulkhead as we're walking through one of the many hallway. Behind me, the Bulk was jumping around, looking for any Scraplet that dared to show it's face.

"Raf found the first one here, right?" Bulk asked, right before the lights went down. Bulkhead, because it wasn't me, let out a girly scream. I look back at him.

"Did you just scream like a little girl?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I might remember this, for… Posterity.

"No," Bulkhead denied, "Maybe… Can we talk about this later?" I shrug, then continue to walk off. Bulkhead went back to looking spastically back and forth.

We continued on our way, when we heard something skitter by, on the pipes in the ceiling. Bulkhead shined the light at it, while simultaneously pointing his blaster.

"Take it easy, Bulkhead," I tell him, no longer scared of the Scraplets, since they won't try to hurt me when I'm in my human form, "Just stay focused, everything's gonna be-" I was cut off by Bulkhead blasting at something. He continued blasting until some pipes on the ceiling fell on him. Bulkhead scream again. I readied my wrench when I see Bulkhead is just freaking out from the pipes. There were no Scraplets.

"Okay, wish I hadn't seen that," I said to myself, because honestly, this was a bit pathetic. What kind of Autobot gets scared of pipes? "Bulkhead! You're fine, it's just a bunch of cables."

"Huh? Oh, right." Bulkhead looks at them, then grabs one, "Cables." When he pulls the cable, a bunch of Scraplets come falling down. Scrap.

Bulk proceeds to try and shake them off, while I try to whack them away with my wrench. We ended up deciding the best plan was to make it back to the main hanger, especially since Bulk was losign Energon. Along the way we encountered Bee and Raf, who had the same idea as we had.

"Ratchet, get the patch kit, we're leaking Energon," Bulkhead called out when we got to the main hanger, "Woah!" There were Scraplets everywhere. I'm pretty sure that was every Scraplet in the base. A good amount of Scraplets were on the ground, while Jack stood with a fire extinguisher.

Some of the Scraplets saw Bulkhead and Bumblebee, then flew towards them, jaw open. Bee started shooting at them, but only hit a few. Oh, no. This is bad. Bulk started hitting them when they got close.

"Eat this," Bulkhead grunted, the looked at his wrecking ball, then his other hand. There were Scraplets. Bulkhead screamed again, while Raf and I set out to swat as many Scraplets as possible. They're even worse when they fly. Jack was trying to freeze them with the fire extinguisher, while Ratchet tried to make his way to the Groundbridge control. All the Bots were struggling to get the darn vermin off.

After several minutes of this, we finally got all the Scraplets in the room dead. The Bots groaned, they definitely weren't in good shape.

"Did we get them all?" Jack asked, spraying the extinguisher at a few not fully dead Scraplets. We heard the sound of more Scraplets echo through the base.

"Hardly," Ratchet sighed, "These were just scouts."

 **"Just scouts?"** Bumblebee groaned.

"So the rest of them know we're in here?" Bulkhead asked.

"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal, then Optimus and Arcee will never get home." Ratchet confirmed, "We must get the Groundbridge operational."

"Then we could use it to send the Scraplets anywhere on Earth," Raf realized Ratchet's plan.

"Why not back to the Artic?" Jack suggested, then held up the fire extinguisher, "We already know they don't do cold."

"Sweet," I cheered, "One stop shopping." Soon we'd be rid of these Pit spawn, I couldn't be happier.

"With the body mass of the Scraplets, sub-zero temperature should freeze them on contact," Ratchet stated, "So think, then, think."

Ratchet thought, "If the Groundbridge isn't working… Then there must be a breach in the Energon fuel line!"

 **"But we can't do anything about it."** Bee grumbled, falling back.

"If we weren't leaking, we could get back over there and fix it." Bulkhead said, what, did he forget we could fix it?

"Where do we find it?" Jack asked, because he knows that we could fix it. It doesn't have to be perfect, just enough, right?

"And how do we fix it?" Came Raf. Soon we were tiptoeing our way past Scraplets with Jack holding a toolbox in hand. I felt the fear come back.

"Remember," Jack said, "We're okay. We're not metal." Easy for you to say, Jack. You're not secretly a Cybertronian. I didn't even think being a Pretender in any way would make Scraplets not see me as metal. Even with that fact, I'm still slagging terrified.

"There's the breach," Jack pointed when we finally came across the leaky pipeline.

"Come on," Jack said as we ran over to it, "We have to work fast." The three of us quickly sent about to welding the leak shut, being careful not to hit any of the Energon. Don't need it to go kaboom, at least, not right now. Right as we finished tons of Scraplets flew past us.

"There getting ready to feed," Raf realized, with plenty of concern in his voice. We soon were sprinting back to the main hangar.

"Ratchet!" Jack yelled, "All systems, go!"

"Fire it up!" I add, following up behind Jack and Raf. Ratchet heaved himself up, pulling the switch to activate the Groundbridge before falling again. Oh, their more hurt than I thought. The Scraplets still needed to get through the Groundbridge.

A piece of metal from the ceiling fell, and Bulkhead looked at it, "Bait huh?" Bulkhead got up and started waving, trying to get the attention of the Scraplets, "Ready for the main course?"

All the Scraplets started flying towards him as he began to limp through the Groundbridge. With him went the Scraplets, all the flying menaces. We all watched with bated breaths, waiting for Bulkhead, Optimus, and Arcee to return. They three stumbled through the Groundbridge. Everyone was happy, crisis adverted. I wouldn't have minded too much if some Autobot had died, but oh well.

All of us humans had to work together to help Ratchet, given he was in as bad of shape as everyone else. Bumblebee and Arcee had it worse, for two different reasons.

"Report bio-circuitry status," The Hatchet asked of us.

"Levels are rising," Jack gave a thumbs up.

"Excellent," He nodded, "Rafael, keep an eye on Bumblebee's Electro Pulse monitor," He looked at me, "Miko, check Bulkheads interface patch."

"It's steady," Raf replied, while I followed up with "Looking good!"

"Perhaps you should get some rest yourself, Old Friend." Optimus suggested, "You saved quite a few lives today." Hey, what about us? Don't we get some credit. Slagging Autobots, can't even care about the ones who did a lot of the work.

"It… wasn't all my doing." Ratchet confessed. Was he admitting that we actually were helpful? "We were just fortunate that this infestation happened, on a Saturday…"

"Our human friends may be small, but they are strong." Optimus agreed, I was hiding a smile while I listened in. So they were willing to admit we played a big role. Then I saw something on the ground that made me scream.

"Scraplet?" Jack asked as he and Raf jumped up, pipe and crowbar in hand.

"Spider!" I panicked, "Is it on me?!" I started jumping around. There was no way I was staying near that… That…. Horrifying Primus forsaken slagging Pit spawn!


	6. How Many Cons Does it Take to Screw in a

"Okay," I said as I rode on Bulkhead's shoulder, "Choirs are done. Now can we go dune bashing?"

"I don't know, Miko," Bulkhead sighed, "Last time I spent a week picking sand out of my articulators. But there's a monster truck rally in town." Monster truck rallies are awesome! Cars destroying other cars, what's there not to love?

"Optimus," Ratchet called, "I'm receiving a signal from a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a starship inside this solar system."

Ratchet fiddles with the computer a bit, "It's an Autobot identification beacon." An Autobot? Is an Autobot coming to Earth?

"So there are other Bots out there?" Jack asked the Bots. What do you think, Jack? That all the Bots are here? That there are only five left? Let me guess, you think that there are only three Cons left aside from the Vehicons too.

"The masses scattered to the galaxy when Cybertron went dark," Arcee explained, "But Cons have been known to bait a trap with Autobot beacons." All of Cybertron, regardless of Autobot, Decepticon, or neutral scattered when our planet became uninhabitable, I'm sure. I wasn't there when that happened, though I assumed it would have eventually. I was already sent off planet by Shockwave when that happened, even if I only had arrived on Earth recently.

The Comn link was on when Optimus spoke, "Vessel, this is Autobot Outpost Omega-1, identify yourself."

"I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades." Came a voice from the Comn link. Bulk practically rushed forward, nearly knocking me off his shoulder.

"Wheeljack?" He asked into the Comn. Wheeljack? I've heard of him before, I think. A wrecker, like Bulkhead was, "You old Con crusher, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Bulkhead?" Asked who we now as Wheeljack, "What's with all the security?"

"The rock we're on is crawling with Cons, how soon can you get here and even the odds?" If I were actually of this planet, I would be offended by Bulkhead simply referring to it as a rock.

"Some time tomorrow, if I put metal to the pedal."

"Another Bot's coming here," I smirked, "How cool is that?" Really, I hope the Decepticons intercept this Comn link. As much as I'd like to hear some stories from him, this Wheeljack could be a danger to Decepticons.

"Wheeljack," Optimus mused, "I know him by reputation only." Same here. I hear he's quite the butt kicker. But, like I said, he could be a danger to Cons if he's here.

"Can you verify his voice print?" The Autobot leader asked Bulkhead.

"He is one thousand percent the real deal, Optimus." Bulkhead assured.

"We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack," Optimus spoke to the Wrecker, "Safe journey."

"See you soon, buddy. I'll make sure you get a proper welcome," Bulkhead smiles, then the transmission ends.

"So," Arcee walked up to Bulk, "Who's the boyfriend?"

Bulkhead chuckled, "Me and Jackie go way back. We were part of the same warrior unit, the Wreckers." Bulk smashed his fist together, "Which means the Cons will wish he never found us." Yeah, I already am. If he's this dangerous, then it could be bad for any Decepticon, myself included, if the Bots ever find out about me.

The next day, all the Bots and humans were standing in front of the computers, watching Wheeljack's ship on the scanners.

"Wheeljack's ship is approaching the drop zone," Arcee comments, Raf looks up to Jack.

"You think he's here to visit?" The boy asked.

"Maybe he'll stay!" I grinned, though I didn't have a huge amount of heart in the declaration. While I'd love to meet this chaos causing Autobot friend of Bulkhead's, it wouldn't really be good for us Decepticons for there to be another Autobot on the planet. "Hmm…" I thought for a moment, "He'd have to find his own human, though."

Ratchet clicks away at the computer terminal by the Groundbridge, drawing our attention to him. "Groundbridge cycling up," He declared, right before the terminal spark, causing him to gasp slightly. He bangs his fist on it, "Blasted Scraplets," I repressed a shutter, "The equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation." Well Ratchet, I don't think hitting the equipment will help either, but what do I know?

Jack looks to Optimus, "So, Wheeljack's going to land halfway around the world, and then you'll bridge him here?"

"We can't risk revealing the location of our base," Optimus explain, using his servo to gesture slightly, "Just in case the Decepticon's are tracking Wheeljack's ship." While he was talking, I ran over closer to where Bulkhead was pacing, putting me right by the Hatchet too.

"Dude! I've never seen you so stoked," I cheer to Bulkhead, genuinely excited myself about meeting Wheeljack.

Bulkhead stops his pacing and looks at me, "Oh, you're gonna love Wheeljack! We were like brothers, and tonight, we are going to party!" He seemed so excited, it almost made me feel guilty about me previous hope that the Decepticons got ahold of that transmission from the day before. Almost. Very almost. I knew what it was like having someone you were close to, who was like a brother. In my case, it was actually my brother, but regardless, I'm not entirely sure I'd like to see Bulkhead know that same sadness from losing someone like that.

I put on an excited face, having only let it faulter slightly, near unnoticeably, and cheered, "Sweet!" There was silence for a moment after until an alarm went off, one of the monitors showing Cons heading to where Wheeljack was supposed to land. Looks like they intercepted the signal yesterday after all.

"Bogies," Arcee commented, "Closing fast on Wheeljack's position."

"Con scum!" Bulkhead growled, stomping heavily. Well excuse me, we're not all bad. Some of us are actually kind of decent. Like Skyquake and Dreadwing, for example. They were twins, both fiercely loyal to Megatron only, but they also had something akin to honor. If you had to be stuck in a "life or death for both of you" situation with any Decepticon, then you'd probably want it to be either of those two. They weren't half bad. Actually, I wonder what they're up to now…

"Open the bridge, Ratchet!" Bulkhead called, "We're missing all the action!"

The Groundbridge opened and Ratchet said, "I'll prepare sickbay, "

Bulkhead turned away and laughed, "Who for? The Cons? This is Wheeljack we're talking about." He clearly believed that with Wheeljack's help, or even just him alone, the Decepticons sent, most likely Vehicons and Eradicons, wouldn't stand a chance. I don't know much about Wheeljack, so maybe he's right. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee go running through the Groundbridge to head to where Wheeljack was.

Only a few minutes later the Groundbridge is reopened and the Autobots return, with a new addition I can only assume to be Wheeljack. When Ratchet shuts the Groundbridge off, not only does the terminal spark, but so does the rest of the Groundbridge. Ratchet sighs once again.

The four walk a little further into the base, ignoring the Groundbridge's issues, "Jackie, c'mere," Bulkhead called, "Meet my other best buddy, Miko!" He gestures to where I'm standing on the stairs. "She can wreck with the best of us!" A bold statement for him to make, given that as far as he knows I'm just a normal human. Though he isn't entirely inaccurate in my slightly destructive tendencies. Thundercracker and I had some interesting misadventures, before we joined the Decepticons, when we were younger.

I give a little wave, "Hiya," Wheeljack moves closer, as if to inspect me.

"You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?"

"I try," I smirk, "But trouble finds us anyway." Especially true for me, as I am a trouble seeking little human with mediocre to none existent self-preservation instinct.

"We're gonna get along just fine," Wheeljack declared, much to Bulkhead and my own glee. Still, something about him was rubbing me the wrong way, but I'm not really sure what. Wheeljack turns and walks over to Optimus.

"Optimus Prime, it's a privilege."

"Likewise, soldier," Optimus responded, "What have you to report from your long journey?"

"Been bouncin' from rock to rock, searching for signs of friend or foe." Wheeljack looks at Bulk as he explains, "Now I find both."

Optimus seemed to think for a moment, "We are few, but strong. We have suffered losses," Like that Cliffjumper they mentioned, Arcee's old partner. "But we have grown, and we would relish welcoming a new member into our fold."

"I would be honored," Wheeljack smirked.

"Then let's get this party started!" Bulkhead cheered, slapping Wheeljack on the back, causing him to stumble forward. Then they gave each other a chest bump. Man, they seemed so close. I… I missed that. Missed having family, family that really cares. Starscream doesn't count.

"Oh joy…" Ratchet groans, resigning himself to having two Bulkheads to deal with. Frankly, I'd like to hear some of Wheeljack's stories, since he's here. Get both his and Bulk's side of the stories, given at most she'd only ever might have heard the Decepticon side. Which when the Wreckers were involved, didn't give much to be said, if anyone even survived.

Hours later I'm strumming away on my guitar, my audience mostly just Raf and Bumblebee since Jack refuses to listen to my music, and had instead chose to talk to Arcee. Ratchet was working on the Groundbridge, while Bulkhead and Wheeljack are playing lobbing, throwing a big piece of scrap metal around like a ball.

"So, what's that about?" Jack asked, more to Arcee but seeming to be willing to accept an answer from anyone.

"It's called lobbing," Arcee explained, "A favorite pastime on Cybertron. Especially among the warrior class."

"Come on Raf, show us some moves," I cheered, trying to encourage the boy to dance to my music.

"Oh, alright," He conceded, getting up from the floor, proceeding to do the robot.

Jack laughs from where he's sitting with Arcee, "Of course, the robot." Bumblebee watches for a while before joining in, copying Raf's movements. Ratchet looks on in disgust.

Jack looks around our little party, "What- where's Optimus?"

"Went for a drive," Arcee explains, "Primes don't party." Frankly I'm amazed Autobots party at all. I don't think I've partied since I was much younger. When Thundercracker and I were children.

"Comin' at ya'!" Bulkhead yelled to Wheeljack as he reared his arm back to throw the ball of scrap metal. Wheeljack threw his arms up to catch it, only for it to graze the tips of his servos and hit the wall. From there it fell down, narrowly missing Ratchet and the Groundbridge terminal.

"You know!" Ratchet managed to called out, "I am attempting to perform _sensitive_ calibrations here!" He gestures to the Groundbridge terminal.

"Sorry Doc," Wheeljack says as he picks up the lobbing ball, "Guess we're a little charged up."

He stops by the doctor, "You built this bridge from scratch, huh?" That was an odd thing to ask. Why would a Wrecker care? Just another thing that seemed to rub me wrong about Wheeljack.

"I did."

"That's quite a feat of engineering."

Ratchet seemed to brighten up slightly at the complement, "Yes, it is."

I noticed Wheeljack got this look in his optics, one that felt… wrong. "Something… Wrong with it?"

"I didn't care for the way it sounded this last jump," The doctor explained, "I put it in shutdown."

"What if you need to use it?" Why was Wheeljack being so curious about the Groundbridge. If he were a scientist or engineer or something of the sort, it wouldn't be so strange.

"Oh, I can't disrupt the defrag process without causing irreparable damage."

"So, uh, how long will the defrag take?" The look on his face, the look in his optics. It reminded me of something. Of a predator stalking its prey.

"A few hours, if we're lucky." I guess the Scraplet's did more damage than I first thought. "Maybe longer," Ratchet added quietly, almost too quiet for me to hear, at least if I were actually human.

"Huh…" Wheeljack seemed thoughtful. Something about him was wrong. Was this really the Wheeljack that Bulkhead was so close with?

A bit later Bulkhead and Wheeljack had us gathered around, listening to them tell war stories. "So there we were, no communications, low on Energon, surrounded by Cons," Bulkhead narrated, "So what does Wheeljack do?" He clenches his fist in effected.

The three of us humans waiting patiently for him to continue, excited. Especially me. Bulk laughs, then gestured to Wheeljack, "Tell 'em Jackie!"

We all look to Wheeljack, "Well, what I do best." I look at him. On the surface I'm excited, but beneath I'm suspicious. Why is he deflecting?

We all look to Bulkhead to answer, "He chucks his only grenade smack into the primary heat exchanger." Bulk is laughing with glee the whole time he explains.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Wheeljack adds.

"The joint went supernova!" Bulk made a huge gesture with his arms, emulating a large explosion. Hearing these stories were so cool, but I just couldn't shake the feeling something's wrong.

"Awesome," I whisper in awe.

"Yeah, I'm still picking shrapnel out of my backside," Bulk comments as he pulls at the offending area.

"I'm not surprised," Arcee says, "Given the size of your backside."

 **"** **Ha! She's got a point there Bulk!"** Bumblebee laughs from his position over with Arcee. Wheeljack gazes off to where the Hatchet is fiddling with the Groundbridge controls. Then Bulkhead continues with his story.

"There it is, Jackie's signature. One grenade, one shot." He looks at Wheeljack, who is still staring off. "Hey, you alright?"

"What?" Wheeljack snaps out of his daze. Bulkhead regards him strangely.

"You don't seem like yourself." He noted. So this wasn't common behavior. I wonder…

"Well- what do ya' mean?" Wheeljack stumbles, caught off guard by Bulk's observation.

"I dunno," Bulk trialed off, "You seem… quiet."

"Aw… I've been stuck in a can too long," Wheeljack responds, "I should go topside before I go stir crazy."

"I have patrol in the morning, you can come with!" Bulkhead offered, excited at the chance to spend more time with his friend.

"Well, let's go now," Wheeljack suggested. Why did he want to leave the base so much. Even I, someone who is almost always needing to be in the sky, don't have this strong of an urge to get out of this rather confining base. Or it would be confining if I was in my true form. Like this it's plenty big to shove off the stirring.

"And brake up the party?" Bulk sounded a astonished, "Come on! The gang's loving you! You gotta tell them about the battle of Darkmount Pass!"

I don't think I know that one, Bulk's certainly never mentioned it, but I don't think he'd mentioned anything involving Wheeljack prior to today anyway. "You tell them," Wheeljack said, turning and looking down to look at us, "You're better at it."

He decided to change the subject, "How about if Miko here shows me the rest of your base." Why did he want me to? Why not Bulkhead? Or both of us? Was he planning something? If so I might have to risk revealing my true form. Of course there's the chance I'd pass out not long after changing if I tired to hold it too long.

"Oh- yeah, sure Jackie. Go ahead." I guess Bulk didn't find anything strange with it.

I slide off the crate Raf and I were sitting on, "Tour starts now!" I pretend to be excited, but honestly I was a bit uneasy. I decided to bombard him with questions, maybe that dissuade him from trying anything. Unless I was just being paranoid. "Do you play any instruments? Do you fly? Have you thrashed more Decepticons than Bulkhead?" I lead him off deeper into the base.

I lead Wheeljack around the base, showing him the interesting stuff and what not. As I lead him back towards the main part I continue my narration, "So that's pretty much it. Energon stockpile, power generator, armory… Everything you need to blow the joint sky high." A event that I've saved as a back up plan, but would rather use at a time when there were only Autobots and no humans in the base. I may not be the biggest fan of the organics, but living amongst them have caused them to grow on me slightly.

Wheeljack looks around, "Where's this bunker located exactly?" I guess that's a reasonable question. I decided for some dramatics.

"If I told you that," I turn around, "I'd have to rip out your Spark chamber." A very real threat if I really dared to, not that he knew that. He regards me for a moment before I cheerfully declare, "Kidding!"

"It's just outside Jasper, Nevada." I tell him, not thinking twice about if that was a smart thing to do. "Though I don't expect that to mean much to ya."

"Can't say it does," Wheeljack says, in an ominous and concerning way, "So uh, anyway out of here, besides- uh- bridging?"

"Why?" I look up at him with concern in my eyes, "You're not planning on leaving already, are you?" Strange actions and what-not aside, I do enjoy his and Bulks stories. I look at him, then walk between his legs, "Come on, I'll show you." He turns around and follows behind. We make our way back to the main part of the base. Bulk is talking to the others when we get there.

"Hey," Wheeljack calls as we walk in, "What are you guys talking about?"

"I was just telling the guys all about you and me," Bulkhead explains, "And the battle of Darkmount Pass." There it is again. Was that battle really that cool that Bulk wants Wheeljack to tell us about it right now.

"That's a heck of a story," Wheeljack agrees.

"Yep," Bulkhead gets an extremely serious look on his face. "Tell it."

I cut the tension with my Miko carefree personality, "Talk, talk, talk. How about after we go off roading."

"Miko, stay out of this!" I gasp, shocked. Bulkhead has never yelled at me. It didn't seem really angry or condescending, like when Starscream would yell at me. He just seemed very serious and focused.

"Bulkhead," Arcee said, "Easy."

Wheeljack seemed uneasy, "I'm not sure I-"

"Tell it!" Bulkhead cut him off. They had a staring contest for a few moments, before Wheeljack finally gave in.

"Fine!" He responded with venom, "You wanna live in the past Bulkhead."

Raf, Jack, and I all look at each other. We could all see the tension. Something was very wrong. Then we look at Wheeljack, curious to see why the battle of Darkmount Pass was so significant.

"The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and the smelting pit," Wheeljack began to narrate, "The Cons were vicious, baring down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left 'em for scrap. Then I made us a way out, using their backsides and stepping stones to cross the molting metal."

He looks to Bulkhead for confirmation, "Isn't that how it happened?"

"Yeah," Bulk agreed, "That's exactly how it happened… Except for one little thing."

"What?" Wheeljack gasped quietly, optics wide.

"I wasn't there."

Ratchet turns to look over to them, shock in his eyes. Us humans looked up shocked as well.

"I'd already left the Wreckers to join up with Optimus," He points at Wheeljack, "But you wouldn't know that if all you did was access Wheeljack's public service record!" Wait, is Bulk saying this isn't really Wheeljack. That this is an imposter.

"Bulkhead," I said, "What does that have to do with- woah!" As I was trying to speak, Wheeljack, or not Wheeljack, (We'll call him Wheelhack) picked me up.

"Miko!" Bulkhead yelled, concern lacing his voice. I hoped they figure out a way to save me, I do not want to have to reveal myself in a room full of Autobots. I'd be dead for sure then.

Wheelhack ran over to the Ratchet and the Groundbridge control terminal, with me still in his hand, being haphazardly flung around. "Stay back," He warned, his voice different now, "Or I'll squeeze her into pulp!" As if to emphasize, he squeeze slightly as I struggled in his grasp. Bulk leveled his gaze at Wheelhack. Wheelhack looked to Ratchet, who held his servos up to show he had no weapons.

"Wheeljack! What are you doing?" I ask, even though I know this isn't Wheeljack. This is obviously a Decepticon, but who could mimic an Autobot that perfectly?

"Decepticon coward!" Bulkhead growled, "Let the girl go and face me!"

Wheelhack smirked, "Don't fret, plenty of fighting to come."

Jack, understandably worried, asked, "Is there even a Wheeljack at all?"

"Oh indeed," The Decepticon chuckled, "And I expect Lord Starscream is making sport of it." I see my brother has, predictably, attempted to be leader again. He'll probably do badly at it. Bulkhead glowered at the faker.

Wheelhack began tapping away at the Groundbridge controls, seeing that the defragging process was complete. "About time," He said, as he opened the Groundbridge. Behind us, it flared to life. He began backing up, heading towards the bridge, as I continued to struggle more. "Let's get this party started," He cheered in mock excitement. Then from behind us, something comes and kicks the Decepticon down, making him lose his grip on me, sending me flying, thankfully straight into Bulk's waiting servo. Bulk then sets me down as Wheelhack goes flying into a wall. The Bot who had kicked them revealed to look exactly the same. That must have been the real Wheeljack.

I look at Bulkhead, and so does Jack and Raf, then we approach the new comer- the real Wheeljack. "I'd shut that hole before the stink comes through," He said, to which Ratchet complied. Both Wheeljacks readied their swords circling each other.

I wracked my brain on who this Decepticon could be. Able to perfectly mimic both appearance and voice of another… Could it be Makeshift? I'd only ever heard of him through others, but supposedly he could mimic any Con or Bot perfectly in appearance and voice. That had to be it.

Bulkhead made like he was going to enter the fight, before one of the Wheeljacks, I don't know which stopped him saying, "Ugly's mine." Bulk looked at Bumblebee, but otherwise, neither did anything. The Wheeljacks swung at each other with their swords, matching strike for strike, blow for blow.

Raf studied them carefully, "Which one is the real Wheeljack?" Good question.

"Uh, I lost track!" I panicked. At the beginning I knew, but now, not so much. The Wheeljacks continued fighting, surprisingly not hitting anything other than each other's swords. One grabbed the other and kneed him in the face, then took his sword and knocked him down. I guess _that_ was the real Wheeljack.

Bulk looks back at Bumblebee and Arcee, "That's my Jackie." Wheeljack relaxes from his stance after regarding the now unconscious Makeshift. He looks to Ratchet, "You, hit the switch." Ratchet nods, heading over to the Groundbridge controls as Wheeljack continues, "It's time to take out the trash.

He looks to Bulk, who had walked over to stand by him, "All yours, buddy." Bulkhead reaches down, picking up Makeshift, then throws him through the bridge, causing the oncoming Decepticons to try and retreat.

"Nice lob," Wheeljack comments, him and Bulk sharing a look.

The next day we're doing like we had been earlier, with me strumming on my guitar. This time, Bumblebee, Raf, and Jack all joined in dancing to my amazing music. Arcee watched, somewhat amused, while Ratchet just groaned once more. Optimus stood by Bulkhead and Wheeljack. I can't believe the big guy missed all of that.

"It's like a recurring nightmare," Ratchet groaned.

"Now that your part of Team Prime," Bulkhead began excitedly, "We need to pick you out a vehicle mode for you. I have some ideas." He elbows Wheeljack excitedly.

"Uh, about that, Bulk," Wheeljack sighed, "Now that my ship's repaired, I'm itching to know what else I'll find out there."

"Wait! You're leaving? Why?" As much as I didn't like the idea of another Autobot, Wheeljack was pretty cool. Having him here as well as Bulk would make my time with the Autobots far more bearable. Wheeljack looks at me almost sadly.

"Oh," Bulkhead realized, "Because some Bots never change." Then he chuckled.

Optimus looked at Wheeljack, "Wheeljack, know that you will always have a haven here."

Bulk claps Wheeljack on the back, "Jackie never stays, but he always comes back." They look at each other then fist bumped. Next thing we knew were had bridged away and were standing outside, ready to see Wheeljack off.

"There's room for two, Bulk, even with a backside like yours. Who knows what we might find out there, some of the old crew." He offered. Would Bulkhead actually take it? Would he leave me for his older friend. While I couldn't blame him, it was scary to think of losing someone I _like_ being around… Primus no Skywarp! You can't like being around Autobots! Even if they treat you better than your own- just forget about it! If Bulkhead leaves, that's one less Autobot, and you don't have to worry about him getting hurt. Not that it matters if he get's hurt!

Bulkhead looks at us, clearly tempted by the offer. I look down, ready to accept that I was about to lose one of the only people I've met who treat me decently, like I'm actually a person. At least, one of the only who aren't dead. Jack puts his hand on my shoulder. I'm a bit distressed to say I was comforted by it.

Bulks laughs a little, "It sounds like fun Jackie, but…" There was a but, "My ties are here now. With them." Oh, thank Primus. He wasn't going to leave. "With her." I brighten up.

"If anything happens to my favorite Wrecker, I'm coming after you." He says to me.

"I'll take good care of him," I grin, biting back the guilt that was rising up. Once I get to Starscream or whoever where the Autobot base was… No, not now. I pull out my phone, "Now, say cheese." I take a picture of Wheeljack and Bulkhead.


End file.
